Kapoor, Anish (1954-…) is an Indian artist living in the United Kingdom. His works reflect his joint Asian and Western cultural heritage. Kapoor is a key member of a generation of British sculptors who arose in the early 1980’s. Kapoor’s earlier works were executed in lighter weight materials, such as wood, sandstone, and slate, and were often vividly colored. These works include White Sand, Red Millet, Many Flowers (1982) and Mother As Mountain (1985). By the late 1980’s, he was working in stone, especially large, rough blocks. He also made pieces in smooth metal in such sculptures as Turning the World Inside Out (1995). Kapoor designed a giant polished metal sculpture called Cloud Gate (2004) for Millennium Park in Chicago. It was his first public work installed in the United States. Kapoor created a polished stainless steel hourglass 16 feet (5 meters) high called Turning the World Upside Down, Jerusalem (2010) for the Israel Museum in Jerusalem. With the British engineer Cecil Balmond, Kapoor designed Arcelor Mittal Orbit, a giant tower for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Kapoor and Japanese architect Arata Isozaki designed Ark Nova (2013), a 500-seat inflatable and portable concert hall.
Loading the player...Cloud Gate sculpture
Kapoor was born on March 12, 1954, in Bombay (now Mumbai). He moved to England in 1973 and studied at Hornsey College of Art (1973-1977) and Chelsea College of Art (1977-1978). He represented the United Kingdom at the Venice Biennale, an international art exhibition, in 1990 and won the Turner Prize the following year. The Turner Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding British artist under the age of 50. Kapoor is also known for his exuberant drawings, which were exhibited at the Tate Gallery, in London, in 1990 and 1991.
